Uta No Love Live
by Kisakaze
Summary: After graduation, the nine girls in Muse receive a call from Shining Saotome. They were being scouted. Let their new lives at the Master Course begin.
1. We're Scouted (Prologue)

The small group of nine felt breathless as the Master Course came into view.

The night after graduation, each family received a call from Shining Agency, explaining that their daughter was being scouted.

A week later, all parents conceded, and Muse met up again in exhilarating excitement.

They were going to move on from being just school idols, and enter the real idol industry.

Honoka could feel her hands shaking from impatience. The group of nine was seated in the lobby, awaiting Tsukimiya Ringo to begin their tour.

"It's an incredible honor to be immediately scouted into the Master Course." Maki whispered. "We didn't even attend Saotome Academy, and we still got in."

"So, that means…?" Rin says densely. Before Maki could reply, a figure with flowing pink hair came through the door.

"Ah, you must be Muse! Welcome to the Master Course!"

"Tsukimiya Ringo!" Honoka felt herself exclaim, when Umi nudged her hard in the stomach.

"We are pleased to be entering, Tsukimiya-senpai." Umi says, standing up and bowing.

Ringo smiles. "How cute! You girls are so adorable! Come this way, your career awaits." He says, motioning them to follow him.

The nine girls get up, Hanayo and Nico slightly stumbling from anxiety but recovering immediately. They follow Ringo in an wonder-like silence.

They enter a high-ceiling extended room.

"Why is Shining calling us here anyway?!" A loud voice from the opposite hallway sounded. Muse froze in their tracks. A large group of males walk into the room. When the males seemed to notice Muse, they as well stood still. The two opposing groups stared at eachother for a few moments, unsure what to do, when a laughter suddenly boomed throughout the rooms.

The group of males, who turned out to be Starish and three members of Quartet Night, were fairly used to it, and only appeared to surprised for a bit. Muse, however…

Maki felt Rin and Hanayo suddenly cling to her shirt. The second, or now third years' eyes widened in horror, and Nico hid behind Eli and Nozomi.

"Fear nothing, Muse!" The booming voice spoke, and suddenly, a pot-bellied man with atrocious hair swung on a hanging ribbon, landing on the ground. Kotori felt like the earth shook, or maybe only she did.

"WELLLLCOME, MUSE, TO THE MASTER COURSE!" The man declares loudly.

"W-We're pleased to be at your acquaintance!" Umi replies, her voice shaking. The man smiles what seemed to Muse a half-smirk.

"I've listened to many of your tracks, and your school idol debut concert was fantastic, but…" Shining spun forward and struck another odd pose. "Only the devoted can become stars shining in the night star!"

"Isn't that the same speech Shining gave us when we came here?" Eli hears from the group of males. "Does this mean these girls are also…"

Shining interrupts the small conversation by (fabulously) pointing at the males.

"Then, allow me to introduce you to STARISH and a trio of Quartet Night, who will be essential for your success, Muse!"

The ribbons swing low again, and Shining stands on them again.

"STARISH, once juniors, are now the seniors to Muse, and you have all been individually assigned to either a STARISH member or one of the three of Quartet Night!"

Rin opens her mouth to protest, but Maki managed to slap a hand over her mouth before any words spilled.

Shining swung on the ribbon and cascaded into the air, landing on the roof. He laughs once more before disappearing in a poof.

Thus leaving the two groups in silence once again.


	2. Groups and Similarities

"Wait, so _we'll_ be seniors now? Awesome!" One of the guys with blonde hair tinted in pink exclaims, turning towards his friends. But then, his eyes comedically slit and his mouth flattens. "But they're girls and all look kinda innocent so I can't see us being as harsh as Ai and the guys."

Muse shrieked and backed up, except Maki. "W-What kind of harsh are you talking about?!"

"Hey, just because we're girls doesn't mean we can't handle any sort of intensity!" Maki exclaims, and an imaginary sign that says 'Part-time Feminist' appeared next to her, before Maki was pulled back and the girls shushed her.

"Maki, you're gonna get us killed!" Nico hissed through clenched teeth, which earned a few chuckles from the opposing group.

"Although most of them look nice, I'm a bit intimidated." Eli confesses quietly to Nozomi.

The silver haired guy with seemingly heterochromia shifts his stance. "So these kids are part of the Master Course now?" He mutters.

"Muse, participants of the event 'Love Live.' They are a school idol group formed to prevent their school from shutting down." The bluenette who stood near him explains. The silver haired narrows his eyes.

"A _school idol group_? You're kidding, right? How unprofessional." He scoffs. The brown haired man who stood next to him laughs.

"Now, don't be so harsh on them, Ranmaru!" He chuckles. The bluenette continues.

"Despite being formed on such a short notice, the group is fairly popular in the media and even have their own game, which was made by dedicated fans."

Muse felt paralyzed as the trio discussed.

"I will be telling you your assignments!" The brown-haired man finally said.

"Who is that?" Kotori whispers softly so the other group couldn't hear.

"Kotobuki Reijii." Nozomi replies with a subtle smile. The rest of Muse looks at her curiously.

"How do you know that, Nozomi?" Honoka asks. Nozomi grins cheekily.

"I'm a fan of Quartet Night." She replies.

Muse's attention was again directed to the brunette.

"Kosaka Honoka-chan!" Reiji began. "You will be assigned to me, although your dorm roommates are Sonoda Umi and Minami Kotori." He motioned her to come stand next to him, which alerted the other members of Muse to do the same when they are assigned.

"Nishikino Maki-chan, you are assigned to AiAi, and your dorm roommates are Koizumi Hanayo and Hoshizora Rin." Reiji continues, pointing at the cyan-haired stoic male who stood nearby him. Maki hesitantly walked over to Ai, whereas Ai scanned her up and down, before nodding.

"And Koizumi Hanayo, you are assigned to RanRan here." Reiji grins as he points at Ranmaru. STARISH watched as Hanayo, in her black reading glasses, freeze up for a moment, before reluctantly walking over to Ranmaru.

Ranmaru sighs. "Of course, I'm assigned the most innocent looking one." He mumbles, although his voice was particularly softer and not as sharp. His two older juniors give him a thumbs up.

Reiji smiles widely. "Hoshizora Rin-san is with Otoya, Ayase Eli-san with Tokiya, Minami Kotori-chan with Natsuki-kun, Sonoda Umi-san with Masato, Toujou Nozomi-san with Ren, and Yazawa Nico-chan with Syo-kun. Nico-chan, Eli-san, and Nozomi-san are sharing a dorm as well." Reiji says, placing his hand on top of Honoka's head. "Thanks!"

Muse was split up as the seniors showed them around.

Natsuki and Syo (and Kotori and Nico) walk over to Ai, who seemed to be analyzing Maki.

Ai peers at Maki curiously.

"Nishikino Maki, fifteen, 163 centimeters tall…" Ai mumbles, as Maki stood stiffly as the male stared at her as he talked.

"Oi, Ai! You're scaring the crap outta her." Syo calls, which caused Ai to look in his direction and stand up straight.

Maki breathed a sigh of relief.

"Interesting enough, we share similar traits." Ai says suddenly, which caused Maki to blink at him in confusion.

Syo raises an eyebrow. "Like what?" He asks. Ai folds his arms.

"Maki and I are both fifteen, two years younger than you, and we're both still taller than you." Ai explains, which caused Syo to jump and clench his fist.

"She is not taller than me!" He snaps, sliding next to Maki and placing his hand against her forehead, but he retreats. "We're the same height…"

Ai smiles, but says: "Pay more attention to your own junior, Syo."

Syo turns to look at Nico, and pats her on the head, which caused her to frown comedically. "Hey, hey, don't go around treating me like that!" She whines. "I'm the same age as you!"

Syo blinks. "Y-You're seventeen?" He stutters, as Nico nods grumpily.

"I'm glad all of our juniors have so much in common with us!" Natsuki butts in with a smile. "Koto-chan likes cute things as well!"

Kotori tugged at his sweater. "Shinomiya-san, do you like alpacas?" She asks. Natsuki claps his hands.

"Of course! They're so fluffy and cute!"

"Aren't they? Their wool is so soft and fluffy…"

The two continued in a conversation only they would understand, and Syo makes a face. "I'm happy, but they're kinda weird." He states. Nico places her hands on her hips.

"Tell me about it." She responds with a sigh, causing Maki to roll her eyes and Ai to blink curiously.


	3. Challenge

"Um..." Eli says slowly. "Why are we in your room exactly?"

She was sat, notably uncomfortably, on Tokiya's bed. Otherwise, she would most definitely _not_ be there, but she was instructed to.

Reiji looks up at her, and for a second Eli swore he had forgotten that she, Honoka, and Rin were in the room. Well, she didn't exactly blame him. Honoka and Rin fit in the environment perfectly, chatting up Ittoki-senpai about... Something energetic, probably.

Reiji smiles cheerfully. "Oh, is that not the best way to bond with people? It was easier for me to become friends with Tokiya and Otoya because we shared a room!" He explains. Eli could only force a smile. Maybe that was something in the idol industry that she hadn't known about? She shifts awkwardly on the bed.

Tokiya was seated at the desk in the corner, writing something in a small book. Eli eyed him, and felt her face heat. She had originally admitted to herself that her senpai was attractive in the means, but she also knew that she had attended and been the student council president of an _all girls academy_ _for three years straight._ Of course, feeling self-conscious all of a sudden and not really having Nozomi by her side to calm her down didn't really help.

"Hey, Reiji, should we be advising them about something?" Otoya suddenly asks. Honoka and. Rin quiet at the question. Reiji taps his chin, before twisting slightly to look at Tokiya.

"Well, first, Tokiya~! Shouldn't you be paying attention to petite little Eli over here?" Reiji calls, causing Eli's cheeks to burn. She had never considered herself 'petite.' In fact, she thought she was pretty modest in size. But she guessed it was just her self-conscious mind speaking for now.

Tokiya looks up from the book. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean it to seem that way." He says apologetically.

"No, it's fine." Eli quickly responds. Tokiya smiles.

"I was just writing down some lyrics. Suddenly being a senior is inspiring." He explains.

"Eh? Oh, I get it. It's better to write it down as soon as possible so you don't forget it, right?" Honoka repeats. Eli frowns, but holds her hands up in exasperation.

"We only have two songwriters in Muse, and unfortunately, neither of them are the three of us." Eli sighs. "So we're clueless in every way."

"Huh? Shouldn't you all contribute to writing a song? STARISH's songs' lyrics are all written by everyone. It's more fun that way!" Otoya says.

"Hmm... I like just practicing together more. I don't like sitting still to write lyrics, although it does sound fun with everyone..." Rin replies.

"We do write lyrics together sometimes, like contributing ideas!" Honoka adds. Otoya grins, showing his perfectly white straight teeth.

"Yeah, like that! That's advice, right, Reiji?" He asks the brunette. Reiji chuckles and nods.

"It's definitely a start."

"What am I going to do?" Ranmaru growled quietly to Masato and Ren, although it was more of a complaint than a question. Ren shrugs.

"It's a challenge, isn't it? Have you never been in charge of someone _innocent_? You hang around Lady enough, don't you?" He asks, almost in disbelief. It was true. Ranmaru thought Hanayo was on a similar stage of innocence as Nanami Haruka, but...

No. The answer was no. The only time Ranmaru had been around Haruka was the short vacation they were sent on to write a song for Quartet Night. Other than that, he was still clueless.

Ren seemed to take Ranmaru's grumbling as a reply and sighs. "Why don't you go ask Lady, then?" He suggest. Masato shoots him a look.

"We're bothering Nanami just because Ranmaru-senpai can't handle Koizumi?" Masato says, but his attention was quickly taken away when he noticed Umi playing the piano.

"Give it a shot." Ren simply states, patting Ranmaru on the shoulder as he turned and decided to go look for Nozomi.

Ranmaru narrowed his eyes, but finally decided to go.

"Oh? Ren-senpai, you play the saxophone?" Nozomi says, gazing curiously at the shiny saxophone in its case.

"Only for special occasion." Ren replies. Nozomi glances at him, her inquiry clear in her eyes, before Ren slyly smiles. He pulls the saxophone from the case gently. "Special occasion as in the presence of beautiful females."

Nozomi blinks, caught slightly by surprise, but before she could respond, Ren began to play.

Nozomi tilts her head and frowns, but then smiles in return. She shuts her eyes to completely immerse herself into the saxophone's rich sound.

Before she knew it, the song was over. Nozomi opens her eyes and smirks. "I'll let that comment slide for now, but senpai, I'll let you know, I won't let you win in flirting. It's clear that I'm a master at that, and I refuse to let anyone else take my throne." She warns devilishly.

Ren's eyes widened, letting her words settle in, when he chuckles. "That's the first time I've heard that out of anyone. I'll accept that as a challenge. But for now..." He leans slightly forward and caresses Nozomi's chin. "I'm in the lead."

Ren places the saxophone back in the case, lightly waves a goodbye to Nozomi, and heads back to the practice room.

"We'll play a duet." Masato instructs. Umi stops to quickly scan over the sheets. For some reason, she felt a bit of pressure, though normally, sight-reading sheet music was a breeze for her. Maybe it was because of the presence of her superior?

"Um, Hijirikawa-senpai, would you mind playing your part first? It'll make it a little easier for me." Umi asks. Masato smiles, and Umi's heart swoons. She had noticed his seemingly serious expression that usually was on his face, so seeing him smile was a great feeling.

Umi shifts slightly over the piano seat to the edge, allowing Masato space, and he began to play.

Umi's eyes widened in awe. He played so gracefully and passionately, almost like she was entering a dream. The piano's soft music filled the room.

 _"How gorgeous..."_ Umi thinks to herself.

Masato plays the end key, and Umi really felt as if she was awoken back into the real world.

"That was amazing, Hijirikawa-senpai!" Umi exclaims, clapping. Masato looks up at her, and gently smiles again. He scoots over the opposite direction to give Umi back her space on the chair. But as Umi shifts back, her foot gets caught in the leg of the chair, causing her to slip backwards. She lets out a cry of surprise, when suddenly, a hand grabbed her wrist and pulled up back onto the seat.

Umi sits rigid on the seat for a second, her adrenaline pumping, and she sighs in relief. She turns to see Masato staring at her, her wrist still gripped tightly by his.

"Are you okay?" He asks in concern, as he lets go of her wrist. A faint red mark was left from his tight grip, and Masato analyzed her hand for any other injuries. "It was the spur of the moment,I didn't mean to grip your wrist so tightly."

Umi blushes from head to toe. "I-It's okay. Thank you. I'm normally this clumsy..." She mutters, earning a brief laugh from Masato.

"Please be more careful, then."


End file.
